Oni
by Amber Carina
Summary: In another world, Sumeragi Subaru was broken long before he met Seishirou. In another world, an entirely different game is being played, and the penalty this time is much larger. The siren's song has never sounded sweeter and Subaru can't help but fall.
1. Prologue

**Prologue**

Sakurazuka Setsuka threw her head back and laughed in sheer exhilaration. The blood in her hair was caking horribly and her black kimono would probably never be the same--but it was worth it. It was worth it, if this was what she had achieved, because now nothing would ever be the same.

Freedom.

She loved the taste of the word in her mouth.

They were watching. It seemed that was all the _important _people did--watch and wait and let their underlings get cut down while they were safe in their little offices behind the wards, where she couldn't reach them. But in a way, that was alright. It meant they feared her--Setsuka knew how to manipulate fear.

"Open the door!" she screamed, suddenly. Her face was contorted with rage and her eyes promised death to all who opposed her. "_Now._"

Silence.

She grinned. That was alright, too. They would pay attention soon enough.

She picked her way carefully across the fallen, mutilated bodies. Her nose crinkled a little in disgust. The stench was nigh unbearable. She hadn't known it would stink so much. But it would all be worth it, once she could walk outside and let the outside wide cleanse and purify her body.

Now and then, one of the bodies she stepped on would groan, or twitch. She frowned. Still not dead? True, she may have played around a little, but she _had _thought she'd killed them all. Except for That One, of course, the important one.

He was lying on the outskirts of the carnage, unconscious. A nasty bruise was forming at his temple, her own handiwork. She hoped that she hadn't permanently damaged him. He really was a handsome man, with the most piercingly beautiful amber eyes, and it wouldn't do for his looks to be spoiled.

She knelt down beside his head and lifted his body so that his torso lay sprawled across her knees, head to her chest. She tenderly brushed his bangs from his forehead and kissed him. Whispered, "Thank you..._so _much."

It was still silent, aside from the occasional groan, but now the silence was watchful, wary. They didn't want her doing anything to this man, just as she had suspected.

"Open the door." She smirked and placed one bloodied fingernail at the man's neck. No reaction. Her smile broadened.

"You think I won't do anything to him?" Amused, lilting laughter. "Do you think this man really matters that much to me?"

No response.

"Alright then," she continued, confidently. "I guess I'll just have to prove it to you, won't I?"

And she broke his arm.

Something snapped within that watchful presence. Was it just her, or was that the sound of a girl screaming? It was muffled by the wards and walls, but it was there, she was sure of it: A reaction.

"For every minute that you do not open that door," she announced, "I will break another bone in his body."

This time it was definite: A desperate, wailing "NO!" The voice of that fiancee of his she had heard so much about, perhaps?

Three minutes later, she had broken each of his limbs and her patience was waning. It was getting boring.

"I think it's time to change the rules a little, don't you?" she drawled. "Every half minute it takes for that door to open, I'll damage one of his organs." She lifted up her hand and let her aura be seen as it morphed into a small knife.

"**No, **_**don't!**_" A young girl, not much older than Setsuka herself, eighteen at a guess, rushed in. She collapsed and gagged, vomiting all over the floor at the stench, the sight, the horror of it all. No doubt, Setsuka thought, witnessing it and experiencing it is far worse than simply watching it from her room as if it were just a movie of some sort. She snorted. Pathetic.

"_Please...don't_," the girl whimpered.

Setsuka gently pushed the man off her lap and settled him comfortably on the foor. She gracefully stood up and crossed the room, walking past the girl without even a backward glance.

"Thank you," she murmured, smirking. The girl only sobbed louder in response.

As she left, Setsuka heard the girl behind her scrabbling around the floor, getting up and falling and desperately trying to reach her beloved as she cried her heart out.

The guards stationed throughout the building did not even try to stop her.

Once she finally reached the outside, Setsuka sighed in happiness. The wide, blue sky and the heat of the sun--oh, how she had missed these!

Free at last.


	2. Chapter 1

**Woot, second chapter! And...five minutes past my self-imposed one-month time cap. Darn. In any case, please forgive any strange verb tenses, as this was originally in past tense and was then changed to present. I most likely got muddled. **

**Kyou-chan: Thanks! I hope this chapter won't disappoint. :)**

**Chapter One**

Sakurazuka Seishirou mutters rather unsavory things about the rain as he walks up the long, winding path to the Sakurazuka estate. It's not that he minds the wetness (otherwise he'd be running), but the timing is simply horrible. He scowls, a bit put out at being foiled.

There he was, sitting quietly in front of the cafe, waiting for his target to pass by as per her normal schedule, and then all of a sudden the clouds decided that _his _area of the city was the perfect site for a waterfall dumping ground. And _so,_ his target chose to go home in a cab. Safe.

His scowl becomes a bit deeper.

The manor at last comes into view. He sighs and ducks under the eaves.

The building is small and concealed within the vast growth of the forest. The design is elegant and reminiscent of an earlier age, with emperors nad nobles and the like at court. There is even a small koi pond, and a graceful, sweeping garden that his mother tends to. _Tended _to.

Another scowl.

_Seishirou,_ a sweet voice chimes. _Did something happen?_ (The devil always hears when her name is called.)

Seishirou looks up. His mother is standing on the ceiling of all places, her demure kimono falling in folds along her upper body and her hair reaching down to Seishirou's waist. She giggles at his bedraggled appearance.

_It looks like this was an unlucky day for you._

He smiles, reaching up to place one palm against her translucent flesh. A gentle kiss to her forehead, though he has to stand on his toes to do it. She catches his chin and then lowers herself down so that their lips meet.

_The gods do not like you._ Setsuka says once she pulls away, an amused grin tugging at her lips. Seishirou laughs softly.

"Maybe there's a reason for it," he answers back slyly. "Divine intervention on my behalf."

_Really? _She bares her pale white throat to him as she throws her head back, laughing. _Then the reason must also be bad. _Dark, obsidian eyes meet his, mocking. _After all, why would the gods favor the Sakurazukamori?_

And they both can't help but laugh, near collapsing, at the irony.

The next day finds Seishirou again sitting in front of the cafe, reading the newspaper and trying out their chocolate cake. It is 7:00 and his target should be walking past soon.

He is glad the rain stopped this morning. His target has a job in this area, but would be finished with it today, and if something happened again, Seishirou would have to adjust all his plans.

He had decided to dress up as a doctor for the day, taking a well-deserved break from nursing invalids to health. The irony amuses him and he wonders if it would be very hard to wash out the bloodstains from the white coat. Perhaps he should go out and buy some bleach later, just in case he needs the doctor's suit for a later assignment.

He is looking forward to finally finishing his job, just eager enough to look up as he feels his victim's aura round the corner.

And then another, stronger aura flares into life beside hers. She is not alone.

Walking with her is a man, younger than Seishirou by a few years--at a guess, maybe in the early twenties. They are chatting amiably, the man smiling with genuine kindness, the short-haired girl giggling happily. They make a cute couple, the hard-working high school student and college grad.

However, Seishirou knows better than to think _that._ The girl's existence alone is a threat to the government, and the man--

--is like nobody he's ever seen before. Pure, raw power oozes out of his every pore. Just being near him is suffocating.

He can feel his own aura rising in response, but he quickly dampensd it before the man can notice and take action. It would be far too rash to act now; one on one, he might stand a chance, but...

Seishirou watches and quietly lets them go.

_Another mishap?_ She frowns lightly, lips turning down in a slight pout. _And this man was powerful, you say..._

"Yes, okaa-san." Seishirou lights the incense and places it in front of the shrine. Setsuka's likeness wavers slightly in the smoke. Over to his right, the real Setsuka rests her chin on his shoulder, watching him. He makes sure to keep her within sight using his peripheral vision; he doesn't like the way it seems more like she is laughing at him than frowning.

_Hmm. _

Silence.

_Have you started investigating him yet?_

"Not yet."

_There's no need,_ she says firmly. _There won't be records. Someone that powerful has to be under the government's domain; you won't find anything on him._

"He's interfering with my work," Seishirou answers, annoyed. "The deadline is in a week. Someone that powerful suddenly showing up next to that girl can't be a coincidence. I need to know who he is so that I can deal with him and get the job done."

Setsuka raises a brow. _Who do you think I am? Of course I know that. _

"Then what do you suggest?" he snaps.

She smirks and sits leisurely down onto the couch, kimonoslipping up her legs and away from her bent knees to reveal smooth, pale skin. "A modest beauty," she had previously been known as, for, even though she was far more alluring than any other woman in their city, she had always dressed demurely in simple yet beautiful kimono Seishirou snorts: Setsuka had always known exactly what affect she had on other people.

_If he's that powerful, _she murmurs coyly, _then chances are that I'll be able to find something out. If he's under orders by the government to deal with that girl, then he must be a spiritualist of some sort._

_But..._ she looks up at him. _I don't think there's any need to go quite that far. He's a Sumeragi.You've been reeking of their magic ever since you walked into the house._

Seishirou's eyes widen in surprise. Setsuka relishes the moment before adding,_ I'll be expecting another arrangement of camellias for my shrine for this, Seishirou._

He sighs and gets up to leave, making sure to say loudly enough for her to hear, "Why is it my misfortune to have such a demanding mother?"

She laughs.

Just as she had said, there were no records. Seishirou takes off his glasses and sighs, one hand reaching out to turn the computer off.

The quiet hiss of the shower combined with the soothing jets of water calms him a little. But really, what was the government thinking?

Sending a _Sumeragi _to interfere with his work...

Seishirou's lips curve back into a feral grin.

This was going to be interesting.

The next day, Seishirou tails his target around town. He knows where she lives, so it isn't difficult; he only has to wait for her to come out of the underground protection agency in the morning and then follow her as he likes. The security is tight around her, and she limits the amount of time she spends outside, but for the past few days, she had had a job at a shrine and often had to walk alone, or else risk causing suspicion with the large amount of bodyguards surrounding a simple priestess.

It is aggravating that Seishirou's prime opportunity had been ruined. But there are other ways of completing this job, so he puts it past him.

_Nekoi Yuzuriha_, her file reads. _17; with dangerous powers. Affiliated with the underground resistance unit. _

And so it goes on, describing her life and what had driven her to the resistance. She is the daughter of two scientists who were employed by the government to experiment on _oni_. They were subsequently assassinated (Setsuka only smirked when Seishirou asked if it was her), and, although it was covered up, young Nekoi found out her parents' research and what the government had done.

Dangerous indeed.

She walks out of the cheerfully yellow house, glancing around her nervously. Seishirou follows from a distance, only closing in when she turns onto one of the more crowded streets, the density Seishirou estimates as being about two people per square foot. Little Nekoi keeps looking back and checking for followers, though he suspects that she is more worried about her own people than potential assassins. From the way her eyes gloss right over him, multiple times, he can guess that she is looking for someone she knows.

She finally stops in front of an ice cream shop. Seishirou nods to himself approvingly, and then pretends to be looking at the ads on a billboard while Nekoi stands nervously beside the door. He stiffens when he once again feels the Sumeragi's aura.

"Subaru-san!" Nekoi's voice rings out excitedly. Her voice drowns out the man's, and Seishirou watches out of the corner of his eyes as she drags him inside.

He follows them in and sits down at the booth next to theirs. When the waiter comes, he orders a green tea ice cream sundae and a small portion of vanilla fried ice cream.

"Subaru-san, which flavor do you prefer? I like strawberry best," Nekoi chatters happily. Another waiter took their order only slightly before Seishirou's, and so they have lapsed comfortably into small talk.

"I don't really have a preference," a quiet, gentle voice answers. Melodic, though not as musical as Setsuka's. "Though Hokuto-chan likes black raspberry quite a lot."

And so the conversation continues. Along the way, Seishirou learns a few interesting things, such as that this Hokuto-chan the two kept mentioning is a sister of the Sumeragi and a good friend of his target. And that this Hokuto-chan asked her brother Subaru take care of Nekoi for the next week or so.

So it isn't the government interfering, but a leak. Then where does this Sumeragi come in? As far as he knows, that clan had always been loyal to the government.

Only six days left. Seishirou has to act quickly.

The waiter passes him; on the tray is a three-scoop strawberry ice cream cup. He chuckles to himself. He knows Nekoi's tastes well enough to recognize that the large portion is most likely hers.

He discreetly flicks his cigarette lighter and sends the thinnest tendrils of magic through the smoke. The flame lasts only for a second, but the wisps of smoke are still under his control, and they gather at the waiter's hand, jostling it.

"You ordered so little," Seishirou hears Nekoi say just as the tray tips, the ice cream falling. "Do you not like ic--KYA!" He snorts, stifling laughter.

"Nekoi-san!"

"I'm sorry!" the waiter blurts out, horrified.

"Oh, no, don't worry! It's ok, really, I don't mind if these clothes get ruined," Nekoi quickly interjects. "Ah, although, Hokuto-chan wouldn't think that way, would she?" Wry laughter from the Sumeragi.

"I'll get some napkins right away!" the waiter says, then runs off.

Seishirou stands up, peeking his head over the booth and surveying the damage. Nekoi Yuzuriha's clothes are a complete mess, the triple scoop of ice cream splattered all over her school uniform and running in thin rivulets down and around her thighs and onto the fake red leather of the seat. He puts on his most friendly smile--the one he dubbed "the good doctor"--and says,

"You seem to be in a bit of a mess. My place is not very far from here; would you like to clean up there?" He looks up and pretends to notice the Sumeragi for the first time. "Ah, and of course you can bring your--boyfriend, is he?"

Nekoi protests frantically--she couldn't possibly impose, he was really too kind, it wasn't _too _much of a bother anyway; oh! and Subaru-san isn't her boyfriend, just a friend... . Next to her, Sumeragi Subaru's eyes narrow suspiciously.

They are a beautiful shade of green, Seishirou notices.

"Nonsense," he cuts in smoothly. "You're completely splattered with the stuff. Don't worry, it's not like I'm a pervert or anything!" He laughs boisterously.

And despite Nekoi's protests--Sumeragi only wordlessly took the napkins from the waiter and handed them to Nekoi, his eyes never leaving Seishirou--he somehow manages to get her to agree. Chalk it up to charm.

"I'm home!" Seishirou calls out merrily as he opens the door to apartment 707 on 19th street with his key. "Oh? It seems like he's not here."

He tosses the keys carelessly onto the kitchen counter. The apartment is spare and neat, furnished mostly with elegantly curved and polished dark wood, a sign of wealth as much as good taste, for everything is designer-brand. The whole left wall is tinted glass, and beyond the glass is a small balcony. In reality, the apartment is owned by an acquaintance of his, one whom he often relies upon for information of the government's doings. Seishirou had really hoped to startle him, but if he wasn't home then there was no helping it.

"Who's not here?" Yuzuriha-chan--for he got permission to call her that on their short walk here--asks curiously.

"A friend. We room together." The lie passes easily through his lips. Seishirou smiles. "Sumeragi-kun, come in! I'll just go show Yuzuriha-chan the bathroom now." He turns away from the door and ushers Yuzuriha away.

"Thank you," comes Sumeragi Subaru's demure voice. Glancing over his shoulder, Seishirou sees the young man walk over to the balcony, pale skin suffused with the glow of the setting sun. The man is naturally slender, a fact that Seishirou attributes more to bone structure than lack of nutrition, for the way he moves, with unconscious grace and stealth, suggests no lack of muscle beneath his clothes. He is dressed very simply in a black shirt and jeans, the black offsetting both his skin and luminous eyes. Quite a pretty sight.

Seishirou has a new game in mind, and the Sumeragi's beauty only makes it that much more appealing.

A few hours later and both Yuzuriha and Sumeragi left, but not before Seishirou extracted a promise from Yuzuriha to meet up the very next day, with the excuse that Seishirou had the concert tickets to her favorite band, the Walking Pocky, conveniently on hand and no one to go with. Obviously yet another lie, but Seishirou can easily acquire the tickets, anyway, using his connections. And once Yuzuriha agreed to go, the Sumeragi immediately acquiesced as well, to Seishirou's delight.

The relationship between the two is puzzling. They clearly had not known each other for long, as both stuck with formal honorifics. The Sumeragi was always unfailingly called "Subaru-san," and he called her "Nekoi-san" as well, whereas Seishirou was on first-name basis with Yuzuriha after a fifteen-minute walk.

Despite these appearances, Sumeragi Subaru-kun is obviously protective of young Yuzuriha-chan, the most puzzling thing of all. The Nekoi couple were well-known scientists, and surely Sumeragi-san knows that Yuzuriha-chan is part of the resistance. Yet he does nothing about it and even goes out of his way to protect the girl. He is a Sumeragi, and the Sumeragi clan had been unfailingly loyal to the government ever since its establishment a full century ago, so by all rights, he should be planning to dispose of the girl.

Nor does Seishirou think it likely that the man's kindness is all an act. Seishirou, as a person who often donned a kindly-seeming mask, can tell the difference between a deception and the real thing. Sumeragi Subaru is truly interested in keeping Yuzuriha safe.

_How sad that all your efforts will be for nought in the end,_ he muses, feeling a little smug. The Sakurazukamori never failes.

He twitches a little from his perch on the balcony railing. He had gone there after the two had left, to watch them as they set off, and had stayed ever since. Somehow, he hadn't felt like going home, and so he ended up watching the sunset over the cityscape. Now, though, it seems that he was no longer alone; he can hear the lock in the door turning, and the quiet click of the door opening.

"So you brought a Sumeragi into my apartment."

Seishirou doesn't look back, but takes a long drag from his cigarette and then exhales, the smoke spreading upwards into the thin night air. He puts a hand down on the cold metal railing and grips it tightly.

Footsteps, coming his way. And then Seishirou can feel the man's body heat as he leans over the railing and looks down at the twinkling lights of the city, not even a foot away. "Do you have any information on him, Fuuma?" he asks.

Monou Fuuma chuckles and then shakes his head in resignment. "What a troublesome cousin I have..." He turns his back to the railing and slants a look at Seishirou over his glasses. "Information on him is very tight; you picked an interesting character to get involved with."

"It wasn't my choice," Seishirou answers dismissively. "He interfered with one of my jobs."

"Oh, yes, Yuzu-chan, is it?" Fuuma smirks. "I did feel a bit of her aura in the bathroom, but it was so covered under the scent of the Sumeragi that it was difficult to 'see.'"

"Don't be thinking dirty thoughts," Seishirou says, amused. "She's not my type at all. Though she is very cute," he amends.

Fuuma laughs. "If you say so. But anyway, about that Sumeragi...I've only ever felt his aura once before."

Seishirou raises an eyebrow in disbelief. "I thought you knew everybody under the government's management," he says accusingly.

"I do, but when it comes to the Sumeragi, nothing is ever really sure. Anything about them is always kept really quiet," Fuuma replies. He tilts his head back and stares thoughtfully at the sky--it had long ago been so polluted that even the stars could not be seen. But the government had put a stop to that, once _they _had taken control, and now the sky is as pure as everything else in the land. Supposedly.

But that is how all governments works, and so Seishirou has no objections, not as long as he is given absolute freedom.

There are others, though, who do not share the same opinion, and he wonders if Sumeragi Subaru is one of them.

"So what _do _you know about him?"

"Not much. But I know for a fact that he's of very high rank within the Sumeragi clan--and he only gets called out for special cases, the most dangerous ones. Why he's involved with Yuzu-chan's case is beyond me."

"Hmm." Seishirou ponders this for a while. "What kind of cases?" he asks abruptly.

"You really are very interested in him, aren't you?" It is Fuuma's turn to stare in disbelief. "I'd ask you what you're planning, but somehow I don't think you'll tell me."

"Life's been pretty dull; I need some way to pass the time." He pauses and grinds the smoldering cigarette into the railing, flicking the stub contemptuously over the side. The burnt-out cigarette is an ugly blemish on the walkway's perfect tiling. "Well, if you really don't know anything else, I'll be leaving now."

He is almost at the door when Fuuma's hand clamps around his wrist in a vice grip. "There is the kishuu case; I think he might have had a hand in that one." Fuuma's tone is casual, but there is no mistaking the challenge in his eyes: _What will you do now, Sakurazukamori? _

Seishirou promptly grabs the other man's hand and twists it off his own. There is a loud thud as Fuuma's back collides with one of the seats; Seishirou straightens and re-arranges his clothes, coolly watching Fuuma stagger upright from across the room.

"Oops, my bad," Seishirou apologizes cheerfully, though his eyes are cold and hard. "Thank you for your help, Fuuma. I appreciate it."

Fuuma laughs ruefully. "I guess I can't win after all. Give Setsuka-san my regards."

Seishirou nods and leaves.

_I like him_, Setsuka decides. _He's very lively._

Seishirou snorts. "You could put it that way." He signs the last document with relish and then caps his pen with an air of finality. He gets up and stretches, then walks off to the kitchen and puts the kettle on for tea.

She giggles. _But it is useful having a competitor, is it not? That way, your sword edge will never dull. _

"Fuuma is certainly powerful but I don't think he's interested in becoming the Sakurazukamori," Seishirou answers dryly. "Seeing as how he's on the run from the government."

_And yet you still took the Sumeragi to his apartment_. Setsuka seems a little too amused by this. _You are so very heartless._

He shrugs. "Better him than me. I didn't tell Fuuma, but it seems like that Sumeragi is involved with 'Yuzu-chan' on a personal basis, not for his job. He might even join the resistance."

_Oh? Does Fuuma-kun hate the government enough to join as well? _

"He might, if he knows someone as powerful as that man is involved."

Setsuka sidles up next to him and wraps her arms around his waist. She gazes at him flirtatiously through her eyelashes. _Is he that strong, the Sumeragi?_

Seishirou shivers, an uncontrollable tremor of excitement. "He's very strong." He smirks. "I'm looking forward to this very much."

She smiles sweetly. _I'm glad for you, darling._

He doesn't hear her.


End file.
